A Prize for the Banished Prince
by PuppyKicker
Summary: To Zuko, Aang was nothing more than an object. A goal. A prize. He was nothing more than a prize to the Banished Prince. AangxZuko Kinda angsty. Set in episode 13- The Blue Spirit.


Takes place in one of my favorite episodes. Episode 13- The Blue Spirit. I do not own Avatar, or any of its characters.

Enjoy!  
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<p>

Aang gulped as the dual swords pressed dangerously along his jugular. He attempted to steady his breathing and heart beat, which had accelerated slightly due to his prior fighting. Aang kept his grey eyes wide, focusing on the Fire Nation's archers, and more importantly Zhao, the one giving the orders. He took a step backwards, mimicking the man in the blue mask behind him. The man who had come to his rescue. The man who had a blade to Aang's throat. Who was he, Aang couldn't say. Was he friend or foe? The man had single-handedly broke into Zhao's fortress for the sole purpose of saving the young avatar. Then again, he didn't think twice to hold Aang hostage for the chance of escape. Was it all a bluff? Or did he really mean to slit Aang's throat if he couldn t get away?

The duo had nearly reached the end of the path, and they were almost clear to make their way into the thick forest. Before they were free however, an arrow was shot hitting the blue mask with deadly accuracy and such force that the man fell down, unconscious. Aang was shocked, the arrow was traveling so fast that he couldn t see it, all he heard was the sound of the taller mans body drop harshly on the dirt road.

Within a second, Aang blew up a gust of air, creating a dust cloud, so the archers couldn't get a clear shot. He glanced down at the unconscious man who was dressed all in black, his dual swords lay on the ground beside him having fallen out of his hands. His blue mask was demonic looking; it had an ever-present smile with fangs jutting out of the corner of the mouth. The mask had slightly moved out of place when the owner took a fell, revealing little of his face. Aang s fingers itched to remove the mask. Since the first time Aang had laid his owl-like eyes on the stranger he wanted to know who he was.

Aang knelt down, his small fingers grabbed the edge of the mask and pulled it off. Then he gasped as he saw his rescuers face.

Zuko.

Aang's head spun. Of all the people who had to come save him, it had to be him. Instinctively, Aang tucked tail and ran. This had been the man who had chased him around the globe, attacking him at every chance he got. So why on earth would Zuko want to save Aang? Aang stopped short.

Soon, Fire Nation soldiers would be out looking for him. Aang bit his lip. Zuko had saved Aang, and it wouldn't be right to just leave him there. The Avatar picked the teenager up, slinging him over his right shoulder, and grabbed Zuko's swords along with his mask with his left hand and quickly made his way inside the dense forest.  
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<p>

Aang sat cross-legged on the leafy ground. The sun had climbed a little higher in the sky, and the morning rays peaked through the forest trees. A slight breeze ruffled the warm air, and made the leaves in the trees shuffle and dance. Aang inhaled deeply, enjoying the aroma of crisp leaves and musky smell of dirt beneath him.

Zuko had laid beside him on a make-shift bed of leaves, and Aang glanced his way once again, trying to convince himself that this was, in fact, Zuko. He didn't look peaceful, even when dreaming he can not find peace. His brown hair was tucked back onto a black cap, his eyes were shut, and Aang was close enough to truly study his scar. At fist, Aang thought it looked painful and angry looking, But the more the Avatar studied it, the more he came to the conclusion that the scar suited him. He couldn't bring himself to imagine what the prince would look like without it. It was as if all of Zuko's troubles and pains were laid bear for the world to see, and Aang thought it made Zuko all the more beautiful. Despite himself, Aang was eager for the young man to awake so he could gaze longingly into his gold liquid eyes.

Aang s heart raced as he thought of how the prince had saved him. It couldn t have been for his country, after all, he was locked tightly away in a Fire Nation cell. So why did Zuko come to his rescue?

The more Aang thought about it, the faster his heart would beat. Butterflies grew alive in his stomach and they flew in every direction. Aang's eyes traveled from Zuko's scar down to his soft lips. His cheeks redden as questionable thoughts came to mind.

What would it be like to kiss a prince?

Zuko had come to his rescue and saved him from a dire situation, after all. Even though it sounded girly, Aang felt as though he was in a fairy tale, and what better way to reward his rescuer than with a kiss?

Aang unconsciously leaned forward. It didn't sound very appealing kissing someone who wasn t awake to kiss back. And what of his Avatar honor? Surely, if he stole a kiss it would be frowned upon. But those lips looked so tempting! And no one was around to see it...

Besides, he needed to thank Zuko somehow and if the teen awoke he might not have the chance. The young prince did have a reputation for being a bit of a hot head.

"Zuko?" Aang called out hesitantly.

Nothing. Not even a twitch.

"Zuko, you awake?" Aang asked louder. When he received no response, he felt somewhat dumb. What was he thinking asking an unconscious person a question and actually thinking they would talk back?

"So Prince, why did you save me, huh?" Aang stared down at Zuko before giving him one small kiss to the lips. "Thank you."

Aang closed his eyes and held his breath. He was expecting Zuko to awaken upon the kiss, just like it was in the stories the monks told him when he was little. When nothing happened, Aang slowly opened his eyes, only to look at a comatose Zuko. Aang almost snickered. He must have been hit hard!

He sighed, leaning back. The kiss was... nice? Yes, nice. That was the word to describe it. It would be nicer if he actually got a kiss back, but Aang could' t complain. It was almost nice enough to do it again. In fact, it _was_ nice enough to do again.

Aang leaned forward for one more long kiss.

Wait. What the_ hell_ was he doing?

He had just kissed Zuko, son of the Fire Lord- the man who was leading this long war, and the man who Aang had to defeat. Not only that, but he had done it without permission. Horror consumed him. He was the Avatar, for God sake! He was supposed to be defeating the Fire Nation, not kissing the currently sleeping man who would inherit the empire. What on earth was he thinking? This wasn t a fairy tale, this was a war.

Ashamed, Aang walked over to the base of the tree, resting his back against the large groves of the tree roots. He knew his friends were waiting for him to arrive with a cure, but something kept him there. He had to wait for the young Fire Bender to wake up, he had to say _something_ to him.

Aang didn't wait long. A few minutes later Zuko woke up. He didn't say anything, but Aang knew he was awake. He was studying that face for to long to not notice those eyes. Those golden eyes that made him feel hot all over and gave him goose bumps at the same time.

Aang spoke to the wind, not having the courage to look at Zuko. "You know what the worst part about being born over a hundred years ago is? I miss all the friends I used to hang out with. Before the war started, I used to always hang out with my friend Kuzan," Aang smiled at the memories. "The two of us, we'd get in so much trouble together. He was one of the best friends I ever had, and he was from the Fire Nation," Aang turned his head, staring directly into Zuko's topaz eyes, "Just like you. If we knew each other back then, do you think we could have been friends too?"

Zuko answered him with fire. Aang dodged the fire ball with ease, and jumped into the trees making his escape. Aang mentally scolded himself.

He was a fool. Of course Zuko wouldn't change. He had saved the Avatar for his own selfish reasons. For his own corrupted honor. To Zuko, Aang what nothing more than an object. A goal. A prize. He was nothing more than a prize to the Banished Prince.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~That was actually a liitle difficult to write. I like my stories with a little more diolouge. :P It kinda felt like I was writing poetry. Please review and tell me how I did!=)


End file.
